'Catch Me If You Can': Brazilian fake war photographer may be hiding in Australia

Eduardo Martins used the images of surfer Max Hepworth-Povey for his Instagram profile (Instagram)

In this extraordinary case, a Brazilian man fooled media outlets around the world - as well as his nearly 130,000 Instagram followers, into believing he was a war photographer. It is now believed he may be hiding in Australia.

The Brazilian fake war photographer is not even the man in his profile pictures, who has now been identified by BBC Brazil as 32-year-old British surfer Max Hepworth-Povey.

The phoney photographer, who fooled established international media companies including Al Jazeera, Wall Street Journal, Vice, BBC Brazil and image agencies like Getty, has now deleted all his profiles on internet and if his own statements are to be believed, is now 'taking a break' in Australia.

The supposed 32-year-old Eduardo Martins, from São Paulo - not his real identity - has presented himself for the last three years as a United Nations war photographer, shooting events in the Gaza Strip, Syria and Iraq, where he said to have witnessed the battle for Mosul against the Islamic State.

His now deleted Instagram profile (see below) had over 120 thousand followers, including many well know photographers and the UN itself.

Perfil de Eduardo Martins no Instagram, antes de sumir

Martins widely distributed photos of his supposed photography work, which were actually photos from other photographers, that he inverted with a horizontal flip, retouching them. In addition, he gave interviews to major media outlets worldwide, telling his story: a leukemia survivor at the young age of 25, a surfer by hobby and a war photographer per vocation.

It is not clear at this point whether 'Martins' was ever paid for any of the photos he provided to a great number of media outlets around the world, including agencies like Getty and Zuma.

Today the identity of the surfer in shown images was discovered as 32-year-old British surfer Max Hepworth-Povey, who on his Twitter profile presents himself as "Chief coffee maker at the @ttridegroup Also writes barely coherent controversial stuff for @wavelengthmag. Solar powered."

Max Hepworth-Povey, the man portrayed "Eduardo Martin's" photos says that he was not aware that his image was being used

Hepworth-Povey learned that his image was being used by 'Eduardo Martins' through a friend - the editor of a magazine where Max is a contributor. The friend sent him a link with the BBC Brazil's investigative report about the fake war photographer.

In an interview with BBC Brazil today, Max said "I was relaxing, having some wine, when a friend from Wavelength magazine contacted me saying that someone has stolen my identity in a kind of a prank on internet."

"I was relaxing, having some wine, when a friend from Wavelength magazine contacted me saying that someone has stolen my identity in a kind of a prank on internet."

Fernando Costa Netto then received phone calls from large media organizations who were suspicious that Eduardo Martins was a fake. Costa Netto then, apparently inadvertently, warned his virtual friend 'Martins' on WhatsApp that they distrusted him. He has been much-criticized in social networks for alerting 'Martin' of the brewing story.

Eduardo Martins then immediately deleted his Instagram account, as well as his webpage on the internet and wrote to Costa Netto:

"I'm in Australia. I've made the decision to spend a year in a van," wrote 'Martins'.

"I'll delete everything online, including internet. I want to be in peace, we'll see each other when I get back. For anything, write me at dudumartisn23@yahoo.com. A big hug. I'm going to delete the zap. God be with you. A hug."

The photographer Ignacio Aronovich, from São Paulo, had never heard of Eduardo Martins but, curious, he read the article of Fernando Costa Netto. Aronovich was the one who identified Eduardo Martins' trick.

He noticed in one set of his photos, which portrayed other photographers in the picture, that there were shutter button on the left side of the camera, when almost all models of camera available feature the shutter button on the right.